State College Downtown Rotary Weekly Newsletter, Paul Rutter-Editor

Visiting Rotarians: Bill Sipple of the evening club
Make-ups turned in:
Guests: Evan Smith a guest of Chris Potalivo; and Petra Pastelnik, a Rotaractor from Wien Austria and also a guest of Hugh Mose.Petra was here to visit the Penn State Rotaract and had contacted Hugh before she arrived. Since Rotaract does not meet during the Summer, Hugh invited her to our club. Petra provided us with some dessert (for a change) and some posters of her home country.
50/50: Dick Jones won the number raffle but lost the war by drawing the 6 of spades. There are 16 cards left and about $1650 in the pot to split.
Auction: ): Chocolate business cards from Sweet Tooth, donated by Brian Christian. Joe Geise won with a bid of $30.00.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: (Please send announcements for the newsletter to Paul)

August 10 Centennial Project Concert Bottled Water Booth - sign up to help now!

July 27 Centennial Project Concert Bottled Water Booth - Walsh, Coble, Kauffman, Fetter, Rutter, Hill, Eberly, Bedell

June 13-14 RYEX sleep over-home stay - Mose, Eberly, Hill, King, Rutter, Taverno, Zimbler, Davis, plus more to be listed as soon as I learn who they are.

June 4-6 Community Service Special Olympics - Potalivo, Catalano, DeArmitt, Abramson, Bedell, Zimbler, Coble, Davis, Brytzcuk, Walsh, Taverno x3, Hill, Jones, Christian, Fetter, Bell, Hellyer, Carol Lloyd, Domalski

May 29-31 Volleyball Concession Stand Fundraiser -Whitfield, Bell, Zimbler x2, Christian, Friedman, Hellyer, DGE Jerry Friedman, Jones x2, Kauffman, Rutter x2, Bedell, Holmes x2, Carol Lloyd, Eberly x2, Held, Fetter, Mary Johnston, Mose x2, Coble, Debbie Fudrow, Meckstroth, Beaver, Taverno x2.

April Lederer Park Spring clean-up.

Mar 12 & 13 Spaghetti Dinner Fund Raiser Workers-the entire club helped in some capacity, I think,

Mar 2004 Spaghetti Dinner Fund Raiser Organizers-Hill, Eberly, Bedell, Guise, ?

Previous Mystery member's experience: none this week. click for answer
The District Newsletter is online at the district Web site.
Happy Bucks from: •Roger Fetter had a happy buck in honor of all the work that Chris Hickey put forth for the water sale by donating ice and tubs. •Doug Holmes had two happy bucks, one because he is going on a two week vacation to Florida tomorrow and the other trying to cheer up his boss, Teresa Davis.
The club stationary for the letter to participants is online in MS Word format
Attendance is woefully small this summer. Please make make-ups. use the E-club if you have too.
Membership training seminar is in Altoona on August 28th.
The coupon books are due out and back by August 12. Get your letters out and follow up. Contact Pat Coble for more information.
There will be the annual joint meeting with the State College Kiwanis during Ag Progress Days on August 18 at 6 pm in the Special Events Building. Cost for the meal which is being catered by Clem's BBQ is $10.00 per person. More info later.
Remember when bringing a guest to introduce them as such and not as a prospective member even if they are one. This could save embarrassment on the part of everyone in case someone is not approved.
Bank over at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church. Pat Coble, the Food Bank executive director said that 60% of low income children need books for kids.
Roger Fetter again put up the Rotarian 4-Way test to promote high ethical standards in the professional and business lives. It was adopted by Rotary in 1943.
Jim Eberly reported about Rotary's Central Parklet Project sponsored by the two SC clubs. The new "Children's Play Space" will be lot of fun for kids. The total costs of the project are $50,000. 50% needs to be raised by the two SC clubs as part of Rotary's 100th anniversary in 2005. Bricks are on sale ($100 for first kid name, $50 for each subsequent). The bricks will be used for the walkway. A pamphlet was distributed.
International Conference 2005 is in Chicago, June 18-22, 2005. It is probably a good idea to make reservations for attending this now.
The Downtown State College Improvement District is sponsoring concerts at the Parklet on July 20 & 27 and August 3 & 10. The Evening club is selling water on July 20 and Aug 3. The Downtown club is selling water on July 27 and Aug 10. Sign up to help!!
Jim Eberly mentioned the Centennial project. We are selling bricks for $100 to raise money for the park. The subsequent bricks are $50. Funds donated are through the clubs 501(c)3 so that means tax deductible.At summer concerts in the parklet we will be doing water sales to raise money too. The remaining date is August 10. Mark your calendar!
The club has a list serv. All active members are on it. The email address for it is SCDTROTARY-@LISTS.PSU.EDU. Email Paul Rutter to see about your admission. It is a private listserv not open to the public. If you are already on it and want help with it please call or email me.
mystery answer: With all his world travels it has to be none other than Dick Held. And it is!

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Previous Week's Speaker: The Rose of Sharon Orphanage

Mary DeArmitt secured this weeks speakers, Sharon and Brooks Way. While their day job is to run Way's Fruit Farm, they also engage in a huge humanitarian effort in the Dominican Republic at the Rose of Sharon Orphanage. Sharon and Brooks have been local farmers for the last 22 years and found out about the orphanage from Dr. Kelly, DDS.

They have been working with the orphanage for the last 7 years. The orphanage places boys 15 to a room on bunk beds and when the Ways first started working the bathroom facilities were unsanitary and nauseous. They related that there is no compulsory education and because of that many children go uneducated. The orphanage tries to provide the kids with a basic education and to provide them with a skill set and work ethic. The Ways have done much for the kids and enlisted many from the State College area to help.

For instance, they elicited the aid of State College Area High School shop teacher Doug Arnold, to make lockers for the kids to place their personal belongings. Arnold created a wooden crate with detachable plastic legs. The crates were then stuffed with clothing for the students and shipped to the orphanage. Each of the kids got several changes of clothes and like new sneakers (donated by Rapid Transit). The detachable legs were then placed on the lockers to keep them off the floor to make mopping easier.

The Ways also spearheaded an effort to clean up the bathroom areas by first removing the mold and mildew from the walls and finally tiling the walls and floors to make cleaning easier. To this end, they got Doug Porter from Porter Bros. to donate and help install the wall tile. Which, since Porter Bros is in business to sell paint, is quite a testament to the Ways' dedication and determination. They have also provided new toilets and installed running water and a sanitary system to improve the life of these destitute children.

Brooks related that the children, while in no way living high off the hog, are now enjoying a standard of living that is better than those in the surrounding area. One night, an adult slipped into the area to try to steal things from the children. One of the older children, Marcos, risked himself to apprehend the thief and was cut in the process. However, he held the man long enough for many of the other children to pile on. When the missionary returned he found the thief had been locked in a room begging for protection from the children.

Children can are allowed to stay only until they are 16, but those who have found a full time job can negotiate with the missionary to hang around. They have to give half of their salary to the orphanage but get to live there and continue the meager education they are provided. All the kids must work or provide some assistance to the orphanage. The staff is very limited with only a half dozen "house mothers", a pair of cooks and a maintenance man to run the orphanage of 66 kids.

This was a very interesting presentation and appeared very well received by all in attendance. Carol Walsh thanked the speakers for the wonderful slides and information.

Sponsors or others considering supporting the group should get in touch with Sharon Way via email or call her at 814-692-8943.

Contact club webmaster: Paul Rutter